San Diego Craft Breweries Now Have Their Own App, Detailing Beers, Events and More

From the very beginning of “craft beer” as an idea, the city of San Diego has been one of its hotbeds. There are perhaps other cities in the U.S. that would dispute SD’s claim to being the “Capital of Craft,” but none would deny its place in beer history, or its link to the development of specific styles such as India pale ale. Today, more than 130 independent craft breweries make their home in San Diego, which begs an obvious question: How can you possibly be expected to keep that many breweries straight as a consumer or visitor?

Well, the San Diego Brewer’s Guild has something that might help. Their newly announced “SD BEER App,” developed by craft beer-centric marketing agency Paradeigm, aims to be a thorough, one-stop compendium of all the city’s craft breweries, along with those companies’ beer announcements, events and other pertinent information. You can even use the app to call a Lyft for a ride from one brewery to another!

Among the features that the Brewer’s Guild is advertising for the SD Beer App are the following:

— Instantly request a Lyft to any SD BEER event via the push of a button
— Learn about ‘hot news’ in SD BEER through timely push notifications
— View exclusive featured beer lists prior to San Diego Brewers Guild beer festivals
— Find up-to-date events from more than 130 independent breweries, featuring beer releases, trivia, live music and more.

If you actually live in the San Diego area, the app seems pretty much like a no-brainer, especially if the breweries and organization manage to keep it updated in a timely manner. With such an overwhelming number of businesses within city limits, it’s almost a necessity to have a program that can organize them in a more efficient way. The app’s secondary function is to promote the city’s independent craft breweries—in doing so, it excludes those breweries that fail to qualify for the organization’s definition of “independent.” Presumably that includes the likes of Ballast Point after its $1 billion mega sale to Constellation Brands.

“The San Diego Brewers Guild is committed to promoting its brewery members and educating consumers why supporting independent beer matters,” said SDBG President and Rip Current Brewing co-founder & brewmaster Paul Sangster. “SD BEER App is one of the ways we’re serving all of our members, as it’s the perfect tool for helping locals and tourists alike easily find events, breweries, bars and restaurants serving craft beers!”

We can only assume that this idealistic stance will probably cause no small amount of argument in the local SD beer scene, as supporters of breweries such as Ballast Point come out of the woodwork, but at the same time it really doesn’t make much of a difference as to the usefulness of the app’s other features. Personally, I would love a similar app for Atlanta-area breweries, and we have perhaps 20% as many. A truly up-to-date events calendar alone for the San Diego area’s 130 breweries would likely be extremely helpful to drinkers who are looking for new Saturday excursions.

You can see a basic mock-up of the app’s user interface and brewery list below. The SD Beer App is already on the app store (for free, of course), so you can check it out right now if you like.